Advertising Archives - Page 30 of 33

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… TiVo VP podcast: DVR meets broadband. (iMedia) NBC Nightly News rebroadcast on web. (MSNBC) Windows Media Player 11 Beta released. (Microsoft) How TiVo is cashing in on the interactive age. (Thomas Hawk) Samsung intros plasmas with built-in DVR. (HD Beat) Elgato EyeTV software updated. (MacNN)

TiVo Spam Machine Gains Momentum

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator and leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced an upfront, multi-million dollar advertising agreement with Interpublic Media, which oversees the media services operations of the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), including Initiative, MAGNA Global, Universal McCann and a number of leading specialist media agencies.

“TiVo is pleased to have Interpublic Media as the first major advertising holding company to sign an upfront deal. This agreement further validates our commitment to the advertising industry and presents an opportunity for all of Interpublic’s clients to leverage TiVo’s DVR advertising to reach an attractive demographic,” said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo. “TiVo offers an interactive advertising solution that enables the consumer to pause television and engage in a branded advertising experience, without missing even a second of the TV show a viewer is watching. We are excited to expand our long-standing relationship with Interpublic and look forward to capitalizing on their intellectual capital, experience and relationships in the future.”

Read more

TiVo Adds Spam (Yet Again)

We started with Showcases and those “yellow star” menu items, then graduated to the pop-up ads, followed by advertising masquerading as downloadable video, and just this week Product Watch commercials-on-demand were launched. Having fun yet? Now the already cluttered Series 2 Music, Photos, Products, and More area is gaining a custom Lexus application. Would you like a little TV with your commercial?

See comments below for more opinion…

TiVo says: TiVo Inc., the creator and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today unveiled the first advertiser custom application, the Lexus Car Configuration Tool, that will be integrated into a Showcase on the TiVo(R) service. Adding to TiVo’s advertising product portfolio, the custom application provides advertisers with increased consumer engagement through unique interactive elements and an increased response rate over traditional campaigns.

Read more

TiVo Launches Product Watch: Commercials On Demand

As announced in November, TiVo is launching their targeted commercials service today. Presumably, one will select advertisement preferences through a new HME app on the recently updated Music, Photos, Products & More screen. As long as the ads remain voluntary and unobtrusive, I’m in favor of TiVo generating additional revenue… assuming they continue adding useful features (unlike this one) and keep fees reasonable. Though, as Om Malik suggests, TiVo’s continued push into advertising presents a business opportunity for another DVR maker to market itself as the anti-ad platform. Is there is a manufacturer brave enough to bring back ReplayTV’s commercial skip?

Wall Street Journal says: For the most part, the marketers won’t run traditional 30-second TV commercials. Instead, they will offer longer ads that attempt to be more informative than typical commercials. Kraft, for instance, will offer 20 different cooking videos that will show such things as how to grill its Tombstone pizza, potato-salad basics, or how to create a cantaloupe-and-Jell-O dessert. General Motors, likewise, will offer detailed video presentations about its vehicles. Ford is trying something more entertaining: one-minute takes of magicians Penn & Teller performing various tricks on a golf course, with a Ford vehicle shown nearby. TiVo users will be able to search for ads in several categories, including finance, lifestyles and travel and leisure. LendingTree’s ad, in the finance category, features personal-finance expert Suze Orman giving step-by-step overviews of different types of loans.

TiVo Adds More Lame Downloadable Content

If CSTV’s Navy football didn’t do it for you, now’s your chance for some hot surfing action! In addition to pimping NBC’s broadcast, TiVo is also advertising eMusic. Notice 4 out of 5 lines of text end with an exclamation point… yet I don’t feel very excited. At least they didn’t use Caps Lock. Wake … Read more

Evolution Of The Netflix Envelope

Business 2.0 has a cool little write-up and gallery of Netflix envelopes evolving over the years… Story here, pictures here. Years of experimentation went into creating the perfect DVD envelope. In 1999, Netflix started out with a heavy cardboard mailer. With only 100,000 subscribers, costs weren’t a concern yet. Then the company experimented with plastic … Read more

Have a Slingbox? Wanna be on TV?

If you’re a photogenic Slingbox owner living in the DC area, check out this television opportunity posted to the Sling Community. We have an interesting media opportunity coming up, and I would like to recruit a greater DC-area Slingbox owner to get a chance to participate in it! Here are the requirements: You must be … Read more

Nielsen Television Commercial Survey

I was asked to participate in an online Nielsen survey evaluating two television commercials. I don’t watch many commercials these days thanks to TiVo and Netflix, but figured I’d take the time since Nielsen would inadvertently compensate me with a post. ;)

The first was a short, innocuous ad for Glad Press’n Seal which was could be pretty interesting if you’re into new forms of cling wrap. I generally avoid the kitchen and have a feeling Glad charges a premium, so I wasn’t overly compelled to go shopping.

The second commercial was for Celebrex, that prescription pain medication. I wasn’t paying very close attention until they said one possible side effect is death. I’m not an advertising expert, but it seems to me if your product may kill someone and you’re legally bound to disclose that… maybe, just maybe, a television commercial isn’t the correct venue for advertising. The Nielsen survey did ask if I would request Celebrex from my doctor (no) and what I remembered most from the commercial (death).

It’s also worth pointing out the freaky pictograms (see below) used to describe my emotional response. I’m not entirely sure what that middle one with the sunny-side-up-egg-in-stomach indicates, though the explosion clearly represents IBS.